On January 14, 2016 Mark Detsky was a featured panelist discussing the implications of distributed resources on the evolution of the transmission and distribution grids. The panel was led by Professor Sharon Jacobs, and was one of three panels that included discussions of grid modernization and data privacy, as well as keynote by FERC Commissioner Tony Clark. Mark is an advisory board member of the Energy Innovation Center – a partnership between CU law’s Silicon Flatirons Center and the Getches Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources.

Joel Maguire appealed a $441,724.64 judgment entered against his client for failure to pay a $300,000 promissory note. The note had been signed by the client in part to settle personal injury claims against his wife arising from a physical altercation with the noteholder. That altercation had resulted in the filing of criminal charges against the wife. Part of the consideration for the note was the noteholder’s letter to the district attorney, asking that the wife receive a deferred sentence. On September 24, 2015, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the judgment. It held that an agreement in which money or other valuable consideration is paid in exchange for a crime victim’s efforts to obtain leniency in connection with a criminal charge is void as against Colorado public policy. The Court ordered that the action be dismissed.

Renee Ezer is to present with Jonathan Leinheardt, Daniel Doherty and Jodi Martin on December on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at Noon at the Boulder Justice Center Training Room East. For more information or to register please go to www.boulder-bar.org/calendar.

Dietze and Davis congratulates its client, Invenergy LLC, on the decision of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to approve Invenergy’s 60 MW Peak View Wind Project. The wind energy project will be located in Huerfano and Las Animas Counties, Colorado. The Peak View Wind Project proposal from Black Hills Colorado Electric Utility, LP will result in that utility’s acquisition of the facility after Invenergy develops and builds the project. The project is the largest wind facility acquired by Black Hills in Colorado. The proceeding before the PUC for Black Hills to receive a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the project was settled via a consent decree between all of the parties to Black Hills most recent resource planning proceeding. http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_29003879/black-hills-energys-southern-colorado-wind-farm-plan

Star has been selected as the A. Thad Smith "Distinguished Natural Resources Practitioner in Residence" at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Burlington Northern endowed this position. The Distinguished Natural Resources Practitioner in Residence Seminar is a “capstone seminar” taught each year in the Spring Semester by a different but prominent natural resources or environmental law lawyer who has extensive experience in energy, resources, or environmental law work. The focus of the Seminar is on skills training, where the skills taught are those that all lawyers need in order to have a successful career in the practice of law.

On September 16, 2015, Dietze and Davis, P.C. attorneys Josh Anderson and Tucker Katz moderated and participated in a panel discussion with Boulder County District Court Judges Thomas Mulvahill, Judith LaBuda, Bruce Langer, and Andrew MacDonald and a local mental health professional, Dr. Kevin Udis. The panel discussed relocation and removal issues in family law cases and explored the relevant legal statutes, case law, and evidentiary considerations. The CLE also offered a unique “view from the bench” to help attorneys better understand the facts, evidence, and arguments that result in the most effective presentation of relocation/removal issues. This CLE was sponsored by the Boulder County Bar Association.

Da Kine -- In the July of 1997 Harvey Cohen, then a partner at Dietze and Davis, invited Karl Kumli to lunch. Harvey asked Karl if he would be interested in moving his practice to D&D, where Karl's water and energy law practice would fit well with D&D's renowned expertise in all aspects of real estate and general business law. By October of that year Karl had joined D&D and has remained there ever since. Harvey has relocated to Kaua'I Hawaii where Karl caught up with him in September of this year at the incredibly beautiful Cohen Plantation. The Kaua'I Chicken sculpture will raise a smile for anyone who has seen the omnipresent bird on Hawai'i's Garden Island.

Karl Kumli was surprised, pleased and proud to be informed by letter that he has passed the bar examination for the Courts of the Jicarilla Apache Nation of New Mexico. The exam, which was given in the Jicarilla capital city of Dulce, New Mexico on September 4, 2015, was challenging for Karl, as he last sat for a bar exam over 33 years ago. The Jicarilla Bar Exam consisted of essay, short answer and multiple choice questions upon traditional bar subjects (including one question which dealt with exceptions to the hearsay rule under the Federal Rules of Evidence), questions particular to the State of New Mexico and a large number of questions taken directly from the Jicarilla Tribal Code, which is several hundred pages long. Karl noted that he was probably the oldest of the dozen candidates for testing. Other attorneys who sat for the exam were from several other states, including Washington and New Mexico. A tribal swearing-in ceremony is slated for September 24. Before the year is out, Karl plans to add the New Mexico State bar to the list of seven other federal and state courts before which he is admitted. Karl hopes that the New Mexico process will be a bit easier, however, as the State of New Mexico has recently offered reciprocity to Colorado attorneys under certain circumstances.

D&D was privileged to assist Dave Priske, Dave Payne and manager Larry Clever, who brought the project through to fruition for the benefit of Grand Junction area water users. Ute Water filed their final documents with the FERC in Washington, DC earlier this month, thereby finalizing the exemption process by which the project was approved. If the lifecycle of other hydro projects in Colorado is any indication, the Plateau Creek Project may very well generate clean, renewable hydroelectric energy into the 22nd century.

Dietze and Davis, P.C. congratulates our client the Strawberry Park Hot Springs Resort on the award of a final decree in their water rights application in Case No. 11CW45. The decree grants absolute water rights to the Strawberry Cold Pond and the Routt Hot Spings Regulating Diversion, both of which are critical components of the hot springs resort.

Recently Karl and Star traveled to Minnesota and Wiscons into record a seven credit-hour continuing legal education webinar regarding water rights title law. Some of the topics that were covered were: water right in a nutshell; deciphering water right legal descriptions; conducting a water rights title search; drafting water right title opinions; curing water right title defects; conducting water right quiet title actions; and ethics for water rights attorneys. This CLE will be broadcast on September 3, 2015 from 11am-6pm Eastern Standard Time. To sign up, or for more information please click here. This is the second time that Star and Karl have recorded a webinar for NBI. They continue to be impressed by the professionalism of the NBI team.

As an added bonus, on their return trip, Star and Karl stopped through Minneapolis where they did a “field inspection” of Carmen Danielson’s legal alma mater, William Mitchell College of Law. Their “drive by” tour of Minneapolis also included an all-too-brief stop at Fort Snell Historic Site, the beautiful Summit Ave. District and the pulsing Grand Avenue commercial area. Karl and Star report that if you find yourself in need of a meal in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, you’ll be grateful if you can stop by a restaurant called Manny’s. They were amazed at the Mexican food they had there – and we supposed that “south of the border” in Wisconsin meant Iowa or Illinois. Not so!

On Tuesday, June 16th, Mark Detsky spoke to a delegation of Ukrainian energy efficiency and renewable energy professionals on Colorado's renewable energy law and energy efficiency law and the success story the state has to tell on both accounts. The delegation was hosted by the Longmont Rotary International, and is one of numerous delegations touring the country as part of the United States Congress Open World Leadership Program. From http://www.openworld.gov/about-us/about-us:The Open World Leadership Center administers the Open World program, one of the most effective U.S. exchange programs for countries of the post-Soviet era.

Dietze and Davis congratulates our client Soldier Canyon Water Treatment Plant on a favorable decision from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC has granted Soldier Canyon’s Request for Rehearing and reversed FERC Staff’s prior determination that Soldier Canyon’s proposed facility did not meet the requirements of a small conduit facility under the Federal Power Act (FPA). This decision clears the way for Soldier Canyon to generate clean, renewable hydropower under a licensing exemption at its pre-existing site, provided there are no public objections during the notice period. The Commission stated its decision in this case “furthers the purpose of the [Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act].” A big win for a valued Dietze and Davis client and for hydropower developers in the West!

DMEA, a Colorado electric cooperative association, sought and received favorable guidance from FERC that it is obligated to purchase power from Percheron Power, a small hydropower generator which qualifies as a “qualifying facility” under the federal PURPA statute. Percheron Power, represented by Dietze and Davis, intervened in the declaratory order proceeding in support of the decision sought by DMEA. FERC’s ruling now clears the way for DMEA to negotiate a power purchase agreement with Percheron Power. FERC’s ruling allows DMEA to negotiate with Percheron despite DMEA’s contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. This decision potentially has far-reaching implications and may open up market opportunities for other small renewable generators across the country. Please see the following publications regarding this:

Tucker was awarded the 2014-2015 John Marshall Award at the Boulder County Legal Services Pro Bono Luncheon on April 6, 2015. The John Marshall Award annually recognizes an attorney for his or her dedication, energy, and enthusiasm in undertaking volunteer legal service for the less fortunate of Boulder County. The award honors the memory of John Robert Marshall, an attorney who served the poor with competence and compassion and an outstanding commitment to pro bono service.

On April 2, 2015, the Commission issued its approval transferring the interests and assets of Durango Mountain Utilities to the new owners of Purgatory Ski Resort. Commission approval of the transfer of the ownership was a critical piece of the overall sale of the ski resort.

Mark Detsky testified on March 4, 2014, before the Colorado House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Energy in support of HB 15-1219. The bill is intended to help renewable energy developers monetize Enterprise Investment Zone Tax Credits and provide certainty that can affect project pricing to benefit ratepayers. Mark testified on behalf of our client the Colorado Independent Energy Association. http://www.ciea-colorado.org/

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